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Clashes in Egypt over new Morsi powers

Maggie Michael and Aya Batrawy

Thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president have clashed with his supporters in cities across the country, burning several offices of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The protests on Friday, the most violent and widespread since Mohammed Morsi came to power, were sparked by his move to grant himself sweeping powers.

Around 100 people were injured.

Critics of Morsi accused him of seizing dictatorial powers with decrees a day earlier that make him immune to judicial oversight and give him authority to take any steps against "threats to the revolution".

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On Friday, the president spoke before a crowd of his supporters massed in front of his palace and said his edicts were necessary to stop a "minority" that was trying to block the goals of the revolution.

"There are weevils eating away at the nation of Egypt," he said, pointing to old regime loyalists he accused of using money to fuel instability and to members of the judiciary who work under the "umbrella" of the courts to "harm the country."

Clashes between his opponents and members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood erupted in several cities. In Alexandria, anti-Morsi crowds attacked Brotherhood backers coming out of a mosque, raining stones and firecrackers on them and at least 15 people were injured. The protesters then stormed a nearby Brotherhood office.

State TV reported that protesters burned offices of the Brotherhood's political arm in the Suez Canal cities of Suez, Ismailia and Port Said, east of Cairo.

In the capital Cairo, security forces pumped volleys of tear gas at thousands of protesters clashing with riot police on streets several blocks from Tahrir Square and in front of the nearby parliament building.

Morsi made his move Thursday, at a time when he was bolstered by US and international praise over his mediating of a ceasefire ending a week of battles between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Only a day earlier, Morsi had met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just before the truce was announced.

Amnesty International said the new powers "trample the rule of law and herald a new era of repression." It said a new "law protecting the revolution" also announced Thursday could provide for detaining people for up to six months without charge.

Prominent Egyptian democracy activist Mohamed ElBaradei called Morsi a "new pharaoh." The president's one-time ally, the April 6 movement, warned that the polarisation could bring a "civil war".